The Personnel Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired by Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE), held a hearing on Wednesday, June 3rd to gather input from the National Military Family Association and several military spouses, to identify ways to support families in the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act.

Kathleen Moakler, Government Relations Director for the National Military Family Association joined Sheila Casey, wife of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Casey and National Military Family Association Board of Governors member; Jennifer Mancini, Navy spouse; Colleen Smith, Marine Corps spouse; and Patricia Davis, Air Force spouse, to testify on behalf of military families of all Services and components.

Issues of concern raised by this panel included providing robust family support, managing the effects of multiple deployments, accessing child care, getting mental health support, and navigating the military medical care system. Speaking for the Army, Mrs. Casey said, “We can no longer ask Army families to ‘make the best of it’.”

“The National Military Family Association recognizes and appreciates the many resources and programs that support our military families during this time of war. The need will not go away the day the war ends. We believe that it is imperative that these programs be included in the regular budget process. We hope the Military Family Readiness Council mandated by this body two years ago will help identify best practices and programs and help eliminate overlapping or redundant programs,” said Mrs. Moakler in her testimony. “Military families one size does not fit all, but they are united in their sacrifices and support of their service members and our Nation. We ask you to help the Nation sustain and support them.”

Sen. Nelson asked Mrs. Moakler how the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children was working for military families. She provided detailed information about the Compact’s success, but explained that much still needs to be accomplished to ensure school children receive reciprocity between States. Sen. Nelson asked for Mrs. Moakler’s recommendation on how to obtain more support from the States and decided to look into the Subcommittee urging States to sign the Compact. In addition, Sen. Nelson said he’d like to see States that have already adopted the Compact urge their bordering States to support the legislation as well. Several of the military spouses brought up the need for a voucher system to provide for alternative educational opportunities for military children.

The Subcommittee also asked for feedback on privatized housing, financial literacy programs, and military families’ satisfaction with TRICARE. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) asked the panel to rate both the quality of health care and access to care. Ms. Moakler rated quality as a “B” while access to care was a “C-”.

In addition, the committee heard testimony from a second panel consisting of Department of Defense (DoD) officials.

To read NMFA’s full testimony from the hearing visit: http://www.nmfa.org/site/DocServer/SASC_Personnel_final_6-3-09.pdf?docID=16741.